


Blown Away (by You)

by wafflesandkruge



Category: Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo, The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, F/F, Rivals to Lovers, Vignettes, accidental attempted murder, airbender! zoya, avatar AU, nonbender! alina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-10
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,721
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28000266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wafflesandkruge/pseuds/wafflesandkruge
Summary: Short and sweet zoyalina for Sapphic Saturdays week 1!Zoya is a prodigal airbender, but there's one thing preventing her from becoming a master- the spirits couldn't care less about her. Instead, they seem to favor the resident charity case, the nonbender Alina.
Relationships: Zoya Nazyalensky & Alina Starkov, Zoya Nazyalensky/Alina Starkov
Comments: 4
Kudos: 18





	Blown Away (by You)

Airbending required patience, or at least that’s what all of Zoya’s teachers kept telling her. But she didn’t have patience, just power. 

_Zoya_ , the other airbenders whispered as she passed in the halls. _She’s mastered thirty-five techniques, but the spirits avoid her. They’ll never make her a master._

Zoya seethed inside, but she knew they were right. Bending came to her as easily as breathing, but the spiritual side of it eluded her. She’d sit meditating for hours on end, and the only thing those sessions earned her were sore legs and an empty stomach. The spirits, it seemed, had no interest in her. 

Probably because they’d picked someone else to favor. 

“Noonie, not that one,” a familiar voice said with a laugh as Zoya rounded a corner of the air temple. Her grip on her glider tightened until the edge of the wood dug painfully into her palm. 

Alina, one of the few non-benders in the temple, was picking fruit from a tree in the center of the courtyard. But while most non-benders needed a ladder, Alina was merely standing at the foot of the tree and looking up expectantly. Invisible hands plucked fruit from the highest branches and deposited them gently into the basket in Alina’s arms. Sprits. Reduced to simple servants for a girl looking to skirt her chores.

As if sensing Zoya’s foul mood, a harsh wind swept through the courtyard. Alina’s stupid straw hat got caught in it, and for a moment it looked it would be lost forever, but of course, it was caught by an invisible force. The girl took the offered hat and quietly thanked the spirit. She inclined her head as if listening to something, then her head whipped around. Their eyes met.

In the few years Alina had been at the temple, they’d never really talked. The other girl seemed content with talking to her little spirits and that boy Mal she’d arrived with, and that was just fine by Zoya. Alina wasn’t like her. She’d never be. 

With a tap on the flagstones, the wings of her glider snapped open. She had better places to be. Without sparing Alina another glance, she took off into the skies. 

* * *

It was always chilly at night due to the high altitude, but it never bothered Zoya or the other airbenders. When she was feeling particularly considerate, she wondered how Alina and the other non-benders kept themselves warm when the temperatures plunged below freezing. But Zoya had never cared enough to ask.

On this particular night, Zoya was awoken by strange rustling noises. Groggily, she leapt out of bed and reached for her glider. Was it bandits? Usually, none were stupid enough to attempt to rob airbenders, but it was known to happen from time to time. Zoya would show them just how outmatched they were. She jumped out the window, prepared to let out some of her frustration on some hapless criminals. 

What she didn’t expect to find was Alina, her bone-white hair practically glowing in the moonlight. The girl was dressed in what had to be at least three layers of thickly padded clothing. Just looking at her made Zoya feel overheated. Alina turned to Zoya as she circled lower and landed lightly on her feet. She snapped her glider closed and curled her lips into a sneer.

“What are you doing out here? It’s the middle of the night and some of us need to sleep.”

Alina crossed her arms and scowled. “Some of us need a fire to not freeze at night. Mind your own-”

Just then, there was the snap of a stick breaking from behind Zoya. Without thinking, she spun and sent a sharp gust of air towards whatever was lurking behind her. But other than a few scattered sticks, she couldn’t see anything.

“Leave them alone,” Alina snapped. “The spirits are just trying to help me.”

“There’s nothing there,” Zoya insisted, crossing her arms. She was tired of having to play nice with someone who didn’t deserve her patience. “You’re probably just faking it, aren’t you? You tell those old farts you can see ghosts so they don’t kick you out the door. You and your little boyfriend.”

Alina balled her hands into fists. “No I’m not. You’re just jealous because you can’t even see them. Do you want to know why they avoid you? It’s because you’re spiteful, rude, and-”

She never got to finish her sentence. Zoya slashed her staff through the air and the last thing she saw before Alina disappeared over the edge was her shocked expression. 

_What have I done?_ Zoya felt sick to her stomach as she practically flew to the edge of the courtyard, hoping stupidly that Alina had somehow managed to hold onto a ledge. But when she got there, the sheer cliff face below was devoid of any irritating girls. _Oh Great Avatar, she’s dead._

But she should have known better than to spare an ounce of concern for Alina. A moment later, there was a scuff behind her and she turned to find Alina being deposited onto the ground by what had to be another spirit. Her eyes met Zoya’s, and even as spiritually disconnected as Zoya was, she could feel the hurt and confusion radiating from the other girl. And despite her knowledge of at least thirty-five bending techniques, Zoya didn’t know how to deal with someone else’s hurt, much less hurt she’d caused. So she did what she knew best.

She opened her glider and jumped off the ledge.

* * *

“You didn’t tell the masters what I did.” It was more of a question, but it came out harsher than Zoya intended. She sat down a few feet away from Alina on the grassy ledge. The other girl seemed to be sketching a landscape of the mountains across from them, her fingertips blackened from the charcoal she was using. She didn’t look up from her sketchbook before replying.

“No. I didn’t.”

“Why?” 

Alina was silent for a moment, but her hand never stopped sketching. Zoya found the scratching of the charcoal across the page strangely soothing. 

“Why are you so angry?” Alina’s voice was quiet, but her words might as well have been an attack. Zoya drew back like she’d been struck.

“I’m not angry.”

“Yes you are.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

“That’s why the spirits try to avoid you, you know,” Alina said primly. “They’re scared you’ll turn your anger on them.”

“But that’s-” Zoya sputtered, trying to come up to a response for that. Was she supposed to take Alina’s claims as fact? What if this was all some revenge scheme of hers for the other night? “I wouldn’t. I would never.”

“They don’t believe you. They want to know why you’re angry.”

Zoya watched Alina sketch for a moment. The craggy peaks took shape easily under her hand, each perfect stroke an act of creation as pious as prayer. 

“My aunt,” she finally ground out. The words came from a place deep inside she didn’t like thinking about. “Fire nation raiders killed her when I was a child. Botkin and the others found me just in time.”

She trained her gaze on the wildflowers in front of her, not wanting to look at Alina. She knew what she’d see. Pity. But she didn’t want pity, or even understanding. She wanted to be known as the youngest airbender master in the last century, not another orphan girl with a sad past.

“I’m sorry.” The scratching of her charcoal had stopped. 

Zoya got up and dusted off her robes. “No you’re not.”

“I- I lost my parents too. That’s when I started seeing them. The spirits.” The words came out of her mouth in a rush, a hint of desperation in her voice. Her sketchbook hit the grass as she leapt to her feet. “I’m not lying about them.”

Zoya sighed. “I know.”

“Here, look-” Zoya jolted as Alina grabbed her shoulder, the contact sending a shock down her spine. The other girl’s grip was surprisingly strong. Zoya turned, a retort already on a tongue, but it died away as she blinked incredulously. 

“What-” Behind Alina, a massive bird was perched on the grass. Its feathers were a deep and iridescent red, but its entire form was slightly translucent. She could see wildflowers _through_ its body. As Zoya stared, the bird cocked its head curiously at her. 

“Is that-” She’d gone eighteen years without seeing even a hint of a spirit, and here one was in the flesh. Was it flesh? As if sensing her bewilderment, the bird opened its beak and cawed, a small jet of flame leaving its mouth. 

Alina rubbed the birds head fondly. “This is Feng. He’s the one who caught me last night.”

Zoya might have been imagining it, but she swore the bird narrowed its eyes at her.

“I...can see him.”

Alina frowned. “Has all that airbending scrambled your brain? Of course you can see him. He’s letting you. Come pet him.”

Zoya approached slowly, never taking her eyes off the bird. Even when the bird was sitting, his head was at the same height as her shoulder. With one snap of his beak, he could probably take off a few fingers. Or would he pass right through? She didn’t have time to dwell on that question as Fend suddenly thrust his head towards her impatiently.

With a nod from Alina, Zoya lifted her hand to Feng’s head and gave him a hesitant pet. To her surprise, he felt _real_ , like warm flesh and blood. The bird chittered and headbutted her affectionately.

“He likes you,” Alina noted, a small smile on her face. Zoya couldn’t help staring. She was radiant as the sun when she was happy, and Zoya had never had that smile directed at her. 

“Uhhh…. I have...training,” she stammered. With a small flick of her fingers, her staff flew into her hand. “I’ll see you later?”

Alina smiled again and Zoya’s stomach flip-flopped, the way it did when she was hurtling through the air in freefall. “Okay. I’ll introduce you to some other spirits.”

Zoya made a sound she hoped sounded like “sure” before she flew off. And elusive thirty-sixth technique be damned, because all she could think of as she trained was Alina’s smile.


End file.
